Thacklaying machine



Dec. 22,1925

L. D. APP

TRACKLAYING MACHINE Filed Sept. 2, 1924' 2 she ts-sheet 1 INVENTOR Lou5D.APP

ATTORNEY.

Dec. 22, 1925 1,566,570 D. APP

TRAcKLAYmG MACHINE Filed Se t/2, 1924 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 h t x EL @N/ MEm; E

I v" l P m N T R N m A Patented Dec. 22, 1925.

UNITED STATES LOUIS ID. APP, OF SCAPIPOOSE, OREGON.

TRACKLAYING MACHINE.

Application filed September 2, 1924., Serial No. 735,490.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it hereby known that I, Lou s D. Arr, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Soappoose, in the county of Columbia and State ofOregon, have invented a new and useful Tracklaying Machine, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for laying track for railroads,logging roads, etc.

'ihe primary object of this invention is to provide an exceedinglysimple and efiicient machine for laying track at a minimum cost A secondobject is to deliver ties to the road bed one at a time in a correctposition for laying Without requiring the workmen tostoop and lift eachtie.

A third object is to convey the ties from behind the machine andover-head to the point of delivery.

A fourth object is to reduce the maximum distance any tie must becarried totwent feet from the end of the machine.

A fifth object is to deliver the tie to the men at a distance of aboutthree and onehalf feet from the ground, thereby eliminating the loss oftime and energy now expended in picking up each tie 011' from the groundor dragging them out of a pile of ties, as is the case when a number ofties are dropping simultaneously upon the road bed. 1

A sixth object is to so construct the machine that a large part of thedrudgery is removed from the operation of track laying, which renders itpossible to engage a higher class of men thereby increasing the speed atwhich track can be laid, and consequently reducing the cost of track permile.

A seventh object is to render the machine simple in structure and safein operation for the men who are working around same.

An eighth object is to permit the machine to operate in either directionso that it does not need to be turned when laying the track or whentaking it up.

A ninth object is to so construct the machine that it will deliver steelto the newly laid ties, or pick it up as the case may be,

or deliver bridge stringers to some desired point.

A tenth object is to adapt the machine for either main line work or forlogging opera-- tions by providing storage space on the machine forrails and ties, which will permit supply cars to be switched into placebehind the machine while rails and ties are being taken from or placedin the storage space on the machine.

An eleventh object is toso construct the machine that an internalcombustion engine can be. employed to furnish the power re- I occupy inthe completed track. The ties are delivered at right angles to the railsat a height which will render lifting unnecessary, and the carrying ofthe tie is reduced to the minimum. In fact, the tie handling problem isgreatly simplified, and it is this item which includes a large portionof the work of track laying.

In order to simplify the illustration I have shown the device as beingoperated by an internal combustion engine, as far as propelling thevehicle and driving the rail rolls and tie conveyors is concerned, buthave shown the conveyor adjustment as being hand-operated which, in mostcases, is sufficient.

I accomplish the objects above enumerated as described in thespecification following and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, inwhich Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the machine taking ties froma flat car at its rear end and using steel rails from its own storagespace. Figure 2 is a plan of Figure 1. Figure 3 is a deck plan showingthe storage space for steel and driving rolls and their gearing, abovewhich the decking has been removed to better disclose the parts. Figure4 is a section taken along the line H in Figure 1. Figure 5 is a sideelevation of :one end'of the machine showing an attachment for taking uprails, which attachment may remain in place all of the time if desired,although not necessarily so. For the sake of clearness this attachmentis not illustrated in the first four figures. Figure 6 is a frontelevation of -a roller hanger shown in Figure 5. g

The views are largely diagrammatic, no attempt having been made to showfriction clutches, fastenings, etc., which are merely a matter of designand do not enter into my invention.

Similar numbers of reference refer to the same parts throughout theseveral views.

Referring-in detail to the drawing,'I"have illustrated the trucks whichsupport the girders 11 and 12 over which I have placed the decking 13which supports the steel rails 14. Between the girders 12 I have formeda raceway in which are placed the live rolls 15 driven by the bevelgears 16 from the shaft 17, which, in turn, is driven by the internalcombustion engine 18.

On the girders 11 are placed the upright posts 19 made rigid by thebraces 20 and joined at their upper ends by the stringers 21. Betweenthe longitudinal side rails 22 which are secured to the upper portionsof the posts 19 is placed a conveyor 23to whose ends I have hinged theconveyors 24 and on the frames 26, which are held at the desiredelevation by the cables2'? and 28 which pass over the sheaves 29 and areoperated by the Windlass 30. The conveyors 23, 24 and are adapted tocarry the ties 31 from the flat car 32 to the new road bed singly in theposition they are to occupy instead of dumping them off in bunches orparallel with the steel rails, as is now the common practice.

On the transverse rods 33 I have placed the carriages 34 from which areswung the rail tongs 35 bymeans of the hoists 36. The tie conveyors 23,24 and 25 are driven by the chain 37 from the engine 18, which alsopropels the machine itself along the track being laid through the chain38, under the control, of course, of the operator through the medium ofclutches (not shown) as is the common practice in Various types ofmachines.

To facilitate the taking up of steel rails I have provided a track 39which is attached to the frame 26 by means of the hangers 40 and 41. Thehanger 41 is preferably shorter than the hanger 40 causing the track 39to slope downwardly toward the machine, as the boom or frame 26 israised toward a horizontal position or higher. On the track 39 I haveplaced a carriage 42 from which is slung a pair of rail tongs 43.

Near the end of the frames 26 I have attached the slings 44 whichsupport the roller hanger 45 whose roller 46 is adapted to carry a rail14. In order to better illustrate the use of the attachment I have shownthe frame 26 in three positions which I have designated as A, B and C,the two latter being dotted positions.

The operation of my device is as follows: When laying track a supply ofrails is in place on the decks 13 and a flat car 32 loaded with ties 31is placed behind the machine. The tie conveyors 23, 24 and 25 are nowstarted by driving the chain 37, and the ties 31 are placed on theconveyors from the car 32 and carried to the road bed Where they arereceived at a convenient height and distributed as needed, during whichtime the machine is backed away, as required, under its own power. Whenenough ties have been laid'the rolls 15 are started and. a rail 14 isrolled out onto the rolls and fed out of the machine upon the newlyplaced ties and is then taken care of'by the crew.

The operation of the device for taking up steel rails, as shown inFigures 5 and 6, is as follows: lVhen the boom or frame 26 is in thelower or A position the tongs 43 are attached to the rail 14 which is.to be lifted. This point of attachment is slightly forward of the railcenter.

When the boom 26 is raised: to the position B the end of the rail 14nearest the machine is uppermost, and the entire rail is caused totravel toward the machine. As the rail approaches the position B theroller 46 of the hanger 45 is placed under the end of the rail- 14 andthe boom 26 is then raised toward the position C, as illustrated. In

raisin-g the boom to this position the carriage 42 slides along thetrack 39 and carries the rail 14 upon the live rolls 15, which-,togetherwith the roller 46,. now support the rail. The. rolls 15 now draw therail 14 upon the vehicle and finally free the rail tongs 43 and theroller 46 from their load.

In taking up track the operation of the machine itself isareversed byreversing the direction of rotation of the conveyors and rolls. When thetie car is filled, the ties be ing taken up may be accumulated on theconveyors until an empty flat car can be switched into place, and whenthe storage space for rails is filled they can be run through onto awaiting flat car. When laying track the rail supply on the machineitself can be renewed in a reverse manner. The hoists 36 are used topick the rails from the rolls 15 and to place them on the decks 13. Inplacing the rails on the rollsfromthe decks they may be slid along androlled down onto the rolls by means of bars.

It will be seen that the usual difficulties encountered in track laying,which is the supplying of material to the machines in sufficientquantities, is thereby eliminated, and the machine is therefore adaptedto main line work as well as for logging operations where the amount ofmaterial required is much less.

In moving the machine great distances, when overhead clearance islimited, the end conveyors can be disconnected and placed upon theconveyor 23 for transportation purposes.

I am aware that many forms of tracklaying machines have been constructedin the past, I therefore do not claim my device broadly, but I do intendto cover all such forms and modifications as fall fairly within theappended claims.

What I claim as new is:

1. A track-laying machine having, in combination, a flat car having alongitudinal rail raceway formed in its deck; live railcarrying rolls insaid raceway; gearing for driving said rolls; hoists for lifting railsfrom said rolls to the deck of said car; a conveyor over said railsadapted to carry ties transversely With said raceway; an extensionconveyor hinged to each end of said first mentioned tie conveyor; meansfor adjusting the height of the swinging ends of said we tensions; aninternal combustion engine for driving said rolls and conveyors and forpropelling said flat car; and having vehicles for supplying rails andties to the receiving end of said machine.

2. A device for taking up rails consisting of a vehicle; a boom on saidvehicle; a longitudinal track attached to said boom; a rail tongslidably swung from said track; and a roller hanger swun from the end ofsaid boom adapted to sli ably support the end of a rail after itsopposite end has been lifted upon said vehicle by'said tongs.

3. A device for taking up steel rails consisting of a vehicle; liverolls mounted on said vehicle; a boom swung from said vehicle; alongitudinal track slung under said boom; a carriage on said track; railtongs.

supported by said carriage; a roller-carrying hanger supported from theswinging end of said boom adapted to have its roller placed under a railand support one end thereof while said rail is being drawn upon saidvehicle by said live rolls.

LOUIS D. APP.

